Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Birdfeeder 3.5 - Raccoon Proof!

Yesterday I spent some time adding extra raccoon security to my already deer and squirrel-proof bird feeder. There were lots of suggestions from the listeners, and a few messages of concern whether I was going to take the animals' welfare into account. I don't want to actually harm any animals so I researched safe and effective ways to keep Raccoons away.

Apparently, putting Vaseline or grease on the pole was the number one suggestion of humane ways to keep the raccoons away. However, I learned that this is actually the most dangerous thing you can do. Birds, squirrels and raccoons that get grease on their fur or feathers can succumb to infection. This can cause them to be weakened so much that they actually get preyed on by other animals. The following methods were all suggested by the animal control divisions of various states.


1: Make it hard to climb
The first 4 feet is now covered with metal flashing. Raccoons supposedly can't climb if they don't have anything to dig their claws into. This is the suggested method for thwarting a raccoon from making his way up the feeder pole.








2: Make climbing uncomfortable
Now, if the slippery metal doesn't stop the Raccoon, the top of the post is covered in carpeting tack strips. They have tiny tacks sticking out that will poke the raccoon and scare him away. This mimics what a cactus or rose bush would do.




3: Added security for flying raccoons
Finally, the top two corners of the feeder pole are now also covered with tack strips. This is just in case any animals decide to take the long leap from the trees onto the pole. I left the top of the pole clear so the birds are still able to perch there.


So far so good, no raccoons last night!

Polish nerds turn a dorm into a computer monitor

This should stop you from making Polish jokes for a while... Students at the Wroclow University of Technology figured out how to take control of the lights in each room of a dorm, creating an amazing light show! Bonus points for doing it all to the Knight Rider theme song.

Lego Arcade

This video contains 3 of my all time favorite things: Legos, 80's video games and stop-motion animation.



This dude also did a pretty cool Donkey Kong video completely in Legos, check it out!

Don't mess with Steve Ryan's live shot

An over-enthusiastic (drunk) Michael Jackson fan interrupts a local newscaster's live feed. What would a veteran reporter do? Throw it right to the b-roll footage and deal with the guy off air. Steve Ryan is not a veteran reporter...